I love quotations. I love finding those phrases that someone else said which I wish that I would have said myself. I take comfort in the words of other people when I can’t quite say what it is that I want to say. And I enjoy sharing quotes with others who feel this way about writing.
The problem is that I’ve never really been very organized about keeping my quotes written down so that I could return to them. I’ve tried to keep quote journals off and on but I always stop writing in them sooner rather than later. I’ve tried to keep an ongoing Word document filled with my favorite quotes (which is great because I can then search easily through them to find things I’m looking for) but I always stop this too. I’ve also done some wackier things in my lifetime like writing my favorite quotes in Sharpie all over one of my bathrooms and emailing quotes to myself so I’d have them in my inbox.
None of these things really worked. These days, I do a combination of things. I write down quotes that I really like and make collages around them which I keep in a notebook. I blog quotes and post them on my social networking sites so at least they’re online somewhere that I can access them. But it’s still pretty disorganized.
Do you have a good method of organizing your favorite quotes?
April is National Poetry Month so I thought I’d share ten great quotations about poetry as a way to celebrate:
- “Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.” - Audre Lorde
- “Real poetry, the thick, dense, intense, complicated stuff that lives and endures, requires blood sweat; blood and sweat are essential elements in poetry as well as behind it.” - Edward Abbey
- “Poetry is either something that lives like fire inside you — like music to the musician… — or else it is nothing, an empty, formalized bore around which pedants can endlessly drone their nots and explanations.” - Fitzgerald
- “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” - Sandburg
- “Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.” - Aristotle
- “Poetry lifts the veil from the hidden beauty of the world, and makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar.” - Shelley
- “Poetry isn’t a profession, it’s a way of life. It’s an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that.” - Mary Oliver
- “Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.” - Frost
- “Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.” - Don Marquis
- “Any healthy man can go without food for two days — but not without poetry.” - Baudelaire
What is your favorite quote about poetry?
One of the things that writers need to do if they are going to be good at their craft is to face themselves honestly. This sounds like an easy task but those of us who have tried doing it know that it’s one of the most difficult things to do in life. It’s also one of the most worthwhile - not only because you start to create better writing once you’ve carefully examined yourself but also because you start to live a more authentic and open life.
In the spirit of this, I just thought I’d share a quote that I came across recently while going through some things. I can’t find the full piece of writing that it came from but I have a note on back of the photo I wrote it on that it is an excerpt from In the Museum of the Lord of Shame by Gary Rosenthal. It goes as follows:
“And so, when we get close
To the wound, when we cross
The border into Egypt
And begin to get close
To where the secrets are buried,
Our nervous system hears a voice
And the voice says,
“You don’t really want to go down there”
And you really don’t,
Anymore than Orpheus wanted to go down
The Dark staircase
Where cobwebs pulse
Like trampolines
Upon which the hosts of houseflies
Try to leap out of this world.
But what you need
To reclaim
Lives down there
South
Of your predictable borders
Where the soul is
Encrusted in Salt
From the tears we’ve yet to shed.”
Be brave as a writer and brave as a person; go deep down into yourself and see what there is to see there. And then come back and share it with the world since who you are is completely unique and who we are can benefit from reading about your experience.
I recently posted an article here with my top 18 favorite writing quotes of the moment, something I did because I believe that great quotes can be one of the most inspiring things for writers to read. A comment was left on the post by Greg Babic, an Australian author who has written a variety of different articles, short stories and books.
One of those books is a book called Words to Inspire Writers. This is a calendar-like collection of quotes that are designed to inspire writers in their craft and in their lives. I hadn’t heard of this book until Greg left his comment here which makes me really excited that he did indeed leave the comment. A quick scan of his blog informed me that this book is actually available online for free!
The book is filled with all different kinds of quotes from all different types of people. I’ll pull the three quotes that are written under the date of my own birthday as an example but you can check out the whole free book here.
I’m home in bed with a cold today. It’s rainy out and I’ll probably spend most of the day reading and napping. For many writers, this is the ideal way to spend a day (other than the whole having a cold part). We love to read. And we love to find just those words and phrases that inspire us to improve our own writing.
I’ve collected quotes from other writers for a long time now and I have a big collection on a lot of different topics that inspire me in my own writing and my own life. Here are 18 of my favorite writing quotes and creativity quotes:
- ” There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.” - Martha Graham. This is part of a longer quote; a lengthier version is included on the home page of my website because I think that this is one of the key things a writer should always remember - stay true to yourself even when the writing doesn’t come easily or starts to feel routine.
- “When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.” - Audre Lorde. In the same vein as the Martha Graham quote, this reminds us that we must say what we must say.
- “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is ultimately to be at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.” -Abraham Maslow. One final way of saying that you’ve got to stay true to what you really are, this time from someone known from the field of psychology rather than writing.
- “It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop.” -Vita Sackville-West. A beautiful way of writing about the importance of writing!
- “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” - Anton Chekhov. And a beautiful way of showing how to be descriptive in your writing! Read the rest of this entry…
One of the things that I’m trying to do as the year comes to a close is to sort through everything I have here that I don’t need. And that includes getting rid of a bunch of favorites and bookmarked websites that don’t apply anymore.
In doing so, I came across this article on 10 lessons from Einstein. There’s some great little reminders about life in there that are worth taking a look at it if you’ve got any interest in poignant thoughts from a brilliant mind.
I’m not sure that I agree with all of these lessons myself. However, there are two that stand out for me right now:
- There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.
- The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.
Life is here for us to enjoy if we’re willing to pay attention to what’s happening around us and if we’re willing to adopt an attitude of curiosity and appreciation. It’s not always easy, especially when things in life are really not going our way. But the more that we can stop to look at the small things that make us small and the more that we can find wonder in the interesting things happening around us, the easier those tough days will be. I think those are important things for writers to try to remember.
“I always wrote with the idea that what I put out there is going to stay there. Once I publish something, it has been published. I’ve never deleted more than one or two posts from my site. I don’t think that there are takebacks.” -Alison Headley
The quote is listed on The Quotations Page for writing quotes, a source that I always find inspiring. The things other people have said about writing often give me pause for thought and this one is no exception. It’s important to realize that what we’re writing is going to be seen by others. As we write, we should keep in mind that this could be something that we’re permanently associated with. By doing so, we maintain the integrity of our own writing and always challenge ourselves to do our best work.
It’s always tempting to think, “it’s just a blog post” and slack on the quality of the writing because you know it’s going to get buried in the archives in a few days. However, something that others have seen always has the potential to crop back up again. Try to do your best writing at all times so that anything that comes back will only be something that you want to nod in agreement with.
Question of the Day: Do you ever find yourself writing with lower standards because you’re “only” writing a blog post?
[Tags] writing, quote, alison headley, inspiration, blog, standards, quality [/Tags]
I’m the first to admit that Reality TV is probably not the best source for inspiration. However, it has its moments. For some, watching the development of characters on these shows can assist them in creating their own characters for novels and short stories. For me, recent inspiration came from one line in a show that made me literally laugh out loud.
The show was Hell’s Kitchen. Abrasive Chef Gordon Ramsay was all worked up about how slow one of the contestants on the show was being at his work. And what he said was something along the lines of “you’re moving like a tortoise … giving birth”.
I’d never heard anyone say that before and it caught me off guard. It took the usual metaphor that is tired and obvious and gave it this twist that struck me as ridiculously humorous. Not much on TV actually makes me laugh aloud so the show got points for that. But more importantly, it got me thinking about the fact that there is always a new way to the same old things if you’re willing to look for that way.
Yes, a lot of metaphors have already been made before. But we can take those metaphors and put our own spin on them to make them apply to different situations or say something slightly different than what they usually say. A good writer will edit out the cliches in her work and find a way to write a new turn of phrase.
Question of the Day: Can you think of any other twists-on-sayings that you’ve heard which stuck with you?
[Tags] inspiration, quote, hell’s kitchen, chef gordon ramsay [/Tags]
“Authors who never give you something to disagree with never give you anything to think about.” -Michael LaRocca
I don’t particularly like confrontation. I don’t enjoy it when something that I write causes someone to get all upset and send me nasty messages or leave me unsettling comments. Frankly, I think that my opinion is just that - one opinion - and while I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, I kind of assume that we all know that everyone is entitled to their opinions. So it irks me, bothers me, frustrates me when someone gets upset by something I wrote.
But I write it anyway.
That’s the thing about being a writer - and especially one on the web where people can fire off responses to you without even a second thought - you can’t censor yourself if you want what you write to really reflect what you believe. I think it’s important that we all remember that for every person that disagrees with us, someone else will agree. For those who disagree, there is the potential we will change their minds or help them see another viewpoint. For those who agree, our articulation may serve to inspire them.
You can’t make everyone happy all of the time. And you shouldn’t have to. Put your thoughts and opinions out there for others to read. Don’t take yourself too seriously; your opinion is just one of many. But don’t shortchange yourself either. What you want to write should be said.
This quote was found on a terrific site that has a whole lot of quotes about writing. This post is part of the daily Inspired! column in which I share the many things that inspire me as a writer.
Question of the Day: Have you ever failed to write something because you were afraid of the response?
[Tags] writing, censorship, readers, fans, creativity, inspiration [/Tags]
This quote by Audre Lorde is one of the most inspiring lines of writing that I’ve read throughout the years:
“When we speak
We are afraid
Our words will not be heard nor welcomed.
But when we are silent,
We are still afraid.
So it is better to speak.”
That is what writing is all about; the willingness to speak our own truths despite the fears that may attempt to hold us back.
To always strive to speak what is in our hearts despite what we are concerned the consequences may be is one of the goals of a writer’s life … and the act of doing so is always an inspiration.
Question of the Day: What’s your favorite Audre Lorde quote?
[Tags] audre lorde, quote, writing, silence, fear [/Tags]
